Monday, April 21, 2008

Hello from The Furtado Center, where Storm media day is about to get underway. I'll try to check in with some observations throughout and after the event.

My first thought, having seen her walk out here, is that Kimberly Beck is very skinny. 5-8, 125 should have been a tip-off, but it's always more striking in person.

2:57: Just got done chatting with Yolanda Griffith and it was very entertaining. Asked whether she was excited about the starting training camp, she said yeah and then asked if the writer (Darren Fessenden of the Seattle P-I) was too.

Later, Griffith expounded on playing against men, saying she gets beat up in pickup games at the Sacramento 24-Hour Fitness but enjoys the experience. According to Griffith, the guys she plays against rely on athleticism but are, ahem, a little low on basketball IQ and fall victim to her old-school game.

3:44: This media day has been chock full of big interviews, so not a lot of time to blog. After meeting rookie Allie Quigley, we had a chance to talk to three of the four members of Force 10 Hoops L.L.C. (Ginny Gilder, Anne Levinson and Dawn Trudeau). Their excitement about owning this team was palpable, and they promised to be "visibly active" at games this season.

4:24: Finally time to wrap up from Furtado. Sheryl Swoopes noted you're only as old as you feel - and she feels like she's 25. Lastly, Ashley Robinson and Kristen O'Neill spoke together. Robinson said that she had a hard time leaving Seattle - especially after seeing the roster the Storm had put together for this season. O'Neill got a birthday surprise a couple of weeks ago when she got to meet Swoopes on her birthday. Unbeknownst to O'Neill, word had spread that it was her birthday, and Swoopes and Brian Agler helped celebrate.

Linda asked who is in camp today and it's probably easier to explain who isn't here. Nine players will be late to camp: Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson (Russia), Swin Cash (U.S. National Team), Katie Gearlds (Greece, due in later in the week), Roneeka Hodges (Spain), Doneeka Lewis (Italy, should be in soon), Kelly Santos (I believe she's in France) and Tanisha Wright (Israel).

Now, time to get to work posting audio and video and working on stories for storm.wnba.com.

Thanks so much for your reports. I especially enjoyed the interviews with Yo and Sheryl. I've always loved Yo's game and the more I hear her speak the more I see that her game is a direct reflection of her as a person. She seems to be a no nonsense person who gets straight to the point and I'm glad to have her on our side for a change. Sheryl sounds excited to be here and I'm glad to hear she doesn't know whagt over the hill means.

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StormTracker, the official blog of the Seattle Storm, features Kevin Pelton, who enters his seventh season of covering the Storm for stormbasketball.com in 2009. Check out StormTracker for complete offseason coverage and Kevin's analysis of the Storm and the WNBA as a whole.Contact KevinStorm Tracker RSS